BLACKWATER USA FOUNDER BEING PURSUED FOR KILLING INNOCENT IRAQI CIVILIANS
Gary Ater
September 04, 2009
...Blackwater USA, now Xe Services, have their own helicopters, Humvees, cannon, guns and other weapons.
Back in 2007, I wrote an extensive article on how the then "Blackwater USA" private mercenaries had been hired by the Bush appointed head of the US occupation of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer. I also wrote that due to Mr. Bremer´s now infamous "Order 17", Blackwater was not to report to the US military in Iraq and they were then allowed to virtually wreak havoc throughout the country without being held accountable for their actions.
That article was eventually read by tens of thousands over the following 6 months and it was picked up by a number of other internet publications.
As with most of the illegal actions that have occurred in Iraq, as expected, one by one most of those actions will eventually rise to the surface and at that point, someone will be required to be held accountable.
As of this week, Blackwater USA (due to all their bad publicity, they are now called Xe Services LLC), is finally being taken to task and it appears that the lawyers are not holding back. They are not just going after the company, they are going after Blackwater´s owner and founder, Erik Prince.
To understand how this South Carolina operation grew to become the largest, most modern, private mercenary army in the world, one must look at how they were eventually hired by the Bush / Cheney / Rumsfeld trio for providing what became "one private military contractor for every US military soldier in Iraq" at the height of the conflict. Today, Iraq is known as the most "privatized" war in US history.
First let´s take a look at the founder, Mr. Prince:
Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL, is a very private evangelical Christian that was a top-ten contributor to President George W. Bush and his friends. Among the original Blackwater USA senior executives were the former CIA official, J. Cofer Black ( Mitt Romney´s counter-terrorism adviser during the election primaries), and Joseph Schmitz, the prior Inspector General under Bush´s Secretary of Defense - Donald Rumsfeld.
Major attention was first brought on Blackwater in 2007 at what became known as the "Nisour Square Incident". Iraqi civilians were seriously angered by Blackwater´s gross conduct when 17 innocent Iraqi civilians, that happened to be in the square, were gunned down and killed.
At the time, it was Blackwater´s job to protect US occupation and Iraqi officials by "any means possible". Therefore, they were directed to kill anyone they saw as a threat. For months before, many civilians had been shot and killed for just passing too close to a vehicle convoy. Blackwater mercenaries made many civilian enemies during the passes their convoys made through the Iraqi towns and villages. (Blackwater also usually chose randomly which side of the road they wanted to use.)
AND NOW TODAY:
Attorneys working for a large group of Iraqis are suing the founder of Blackwater USA for deliberately causing the deaths of innocent Iraqi civilians in a multiple series of shootings in Iraq, The attorneys singled out Mr. Prince for blame in the deaths of more than 20 Iraqis between 2005 and 2007. Six former Blackwater guards were criminally charged in 14 of the shootings, and family members and victims' estates sued Prince, Xe Services LLC and a group of related companies.
"The person responsible for these deaths is Mr. Prince,'' Susan L. Burke, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in US District Court in Alexandria, VA. "He had the intent, he provided the weapons, he provided the instructions, and they were followed by his agents and they were war crimes."
Judge T.S. Ellis III has expressed deep skepticism about the claims. "Are you accusing Mr. Prince of saying 'I want our boys to go out and shoot innocent civilians?'" the judge asked the attorneys. "These are certainly allegations of not engaging in very nice conduct, but where are the elements that meet the elements of murder? I don't have any doubt that you can infer malice. What you can't infer, as far as I can tell, is the intent to kill these people."
This hearing is the latest fallout from Blackwater's controversial actions in Iraq. The company, which has provided security under a highly lucrative, no-bid, US State Department contract, has come under scrutiny for a string of incidents in which its heavily armed guards were accused of using excessive force. (It has been asked as to why Xe Services is still around with President Obama´s announcement of the US pulling out of Iraq. Unfortunately, as with most monopolies, it has become impossible to replace Xe Services during the US time remaining in Iraq.)
The deadliest attack by Xe Services is being stated as the "Nisour Square Incident" which was the September 2007 shooting in central Baghdad which killed the 17 Iraqi civilians. The company has previously said that the guards' convoy had come under fire. However, since "Order 17" had been withdrawn, five former Blackwater guards have been indicted on federal charges in 14 previous Blackwater shootings. A sixth Blackwater guard has already pleaded guilty.
The new lawsuit cites the Nisour Square Incident and other shootings for accusing the company of "lawless behavior". In the consolidation of five earlier lawsuits, it says the company covered up killings and hired known, cruel mercenaries. In sworn affidavits recently filed by the plaintiffs' attorneys, two former Blackwater employees have also stated that the company may have conspired to murder witnesses in the current criminal probe.
Attorneys for Xe Services say the lawsuit should be dismissed on a variety of legal grounds. They agree that although the deaths were tragic, the guards were closely supervised by U.S. government officials (but not the US military). The allegations "go far beyond describing the harm allegedly suffered by Plaintiffs," the Xe attorneys wrote in their motion to dismiss. "They include an encyclopedia of vituperative assertions."
The Xe Services attorneys are also calling on the judge to strike the affidavits from the former employees from the court record, calling them "scandalous and baseless" and "purely designed to get publicity". Judge Ellis will rule on that motion in the coming weeks.
Author´s Note:
Whether or not Xe Services is found to be at fault, I personally do not believe that it is prudent for private mercenary armies to be used in a country´s military conflict and especially to not be under the supervision of the country´s military commanders. I also don´t agree with allowing a private army to become established and to grow to thousands of members while becoming armed with modern weapons inside any democratic republic.
I guess I am just a bit funny that way.
Copyright G.Ater 2009
Follow me on Twitter: gater01
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